Muscat: As a journalist I have also been, like numerous counterparts, following up on the pandemic status nationally and internationally.
We have been looking at figures and of positive cases and studies on vaccines and the rush for it. Then there are others who have been telling me about how Coronavirus is just another virus. We have also been told of all the precautions to be taken.
All of this is satisfactory except when it comes to the state of mind of the relatives of COVID-19 patients. The anxiety and worry they go through have not yet been brought into focus and we have to remember this is also being experienced collectively as the world unanimously continues to go through the pandemic period.
In some nations it is the second wave while other nations are still going through the first wave. Countries observed there is no other way but open up and move out of lockdowns at least for economic reasons.
Even people have been waiting to move forward and have been in a hurry to go back to what it used to be like. Isolation is not bearable so we can imagine what the patients are going through as being a COVID-19 patient unlike other health problems. This adds fuel to the anxiety for the relatives.
Wish there was a way to read the stress level of the world due to the pandemic. Now more than ever there is a need for volunteers – especially psychiatrists and psychologists and mental health workers. And the support would have to be through on line platforms and via phone calls. We have the means, so why not?
While we focus on physical wellbeing we continue to overlook metal health.
While Oman has been seeing success in convalescent plasma therapy, the way forward to use this therapy requires blood donors who have recovered from the Coronavirus infection to transfuse the antibodies to the patients to build up their immune system.
But the relatives in their anxiety may not be able to comprehend the various aspects of the treatment as their mind is under the influence of fear.
Fear is an emotion and the thoughts are often unfounded and could be just an imagination because of our thoughts rush from one point to another. It is in the back of our mind constantly and just when we think we need to detach ourselves from the topic of COVID-19 someone you know has a relative diagnosed positive. And the same thoughts come again, which overwhelm rational thinking.
This is exceptionally true when one does not have relatives with them. Can we collectively become aware and think about mental health as much as we are aware about the new norm of wearing masks while being in public and maintaining two meter distance. The virus does not discriminate between ‘the haves and the have nots’ and the fact is the treatment of COVID-19 is expensive. All this goes on to prove that prevention is the best measure to be taken during this period.
No matter how bored and tired we are of staying indoors and away from everything we used to do before March 2020, we need to continuously strive to try breaking the chain.
It seems at times fear helps as it makes us cautious. But once in the territory of COVID-19 then it is courage that can lead one to health. It is not as easy as we think.
Dr Hamed al Sinawi, Senior Consultant, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital says negative emotions affect our immunity level. So I suppose what we really need to invest in is happiness for wellness.
We need to find happiness in ourselves that could allow us to experience bliss. Fine one has had to go through the pandemic but how you come out of it is in our hands. While doctors and health workers do their part to heal, the mind is our business. Maybe we need to do some content control and indulge in some censoring pushing out thoughts that pop up by saying, “No, thank you.”
It is just like how we feel the negative vibes when we are in the company of some people and we thrive while being in other people’s companies.
So it seems our health begins with our thoughts. Wishing you happy thoughts!
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